


follow the yellow flowers

by tinycleric



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, not a lot of romance but i'm tagging it to be safe, some cloti if you squint i quess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24563608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinycleric/pseuds/tinycleric
Summary: In the darkness, she felt something. A faint tug against the small slivers that made up what was once Aerith Gainsborough.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	follow the yellow flowers

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first creative thing i've written in i don't even know how long, but both of my two braincells are focused on ffvii right now. i've been thinking a lot about some of the aerith theories from the remake and her time in the lifestream and came up with this. a lot of stuff is referenced from aerith's story in on the way to a smile as well, but this is really just me dipping my toes back into writing creatively

Her last moments were made up of fragments.

The taste of iron in her mouth as she tried to take in one more wheezing breath, the feel of the smooth floor beneath her hands as her body crumpled in on itself, a glimpse of spiky blonde hair and shocked blue eyes.

Finally, before losing all consciousness, the soft pinging sound of something hitting the floor and bouncing away reached her ears. Then she felt herself being pulled away and welcomed home.

* * *

There was no time for relaxing. The race to find Sephiroth. The shock at feeling Cloud’s consciousness press against hers briefly in the Lifestream, his spirit crying out in terror and confusion. Then, the brief respite as she felt Tifa’s warm, gentle spirit coaxing him back home.

From there she focused all her energy on summoning Holy. Using her connection to the planet to send tendrils of the Lifestream spilling onto the surface through the planet’s cracks and arcing towards Meteor.

Now her friends could rest. Move on from all this tragedy and begin to slowly stitch themselves back together, and she could finally drift freely in the Lifestream, cradled in its healing currents.

* * *

In between tragedies and trials, Aerith found some kind of hard fought for peace. She moved through the stream with her own will, as only a Cetra can, wanting to enjoy some time floating uncaring through the current before moving on and joining the planet.

As she traveled its length, she brushed against familiar spirits, bringing with them bright snapshots of memories. A young man from Sector 7 who she’d sold a bouquet to, meant for his lover. Infantrymen she’d fought against, their subtle feelings of regret and resentment hitting her and twisting into her heart like a knife.

She came across Wedge’s spirit a few times, constantly accompanied by two others, happily brushing against him and offering what reassurance she could after his efforts in the collapse of the plate.

The spirit she enjoyed meeting the most, though, was someone she’d spent years dreaming of seeing again. When she first brushed against Zack’s spirit, she could tell his shock mirrored her own. She felt herself cycle through emotions: shock, regret, sorrow, and then a tidal wave of warmth and love.

Their spirits circled one another, twining together like cats, celebrating their long-awaited reunion in the only way they could. She could never know for sure how aware Zack was, but this was enough. Seeing him from time to time and feeling his spirit, exuberant as ever, connecting with her own felt as if she was being warmed by the rays of the sun.

* * *

The peace could never last forever. During one of her nomadic cycles, she felt something she’d never felt in the currents of the Lifestream before. An insidious hatred had taken root in the currents like a pollution. Sephiroth was somehow still clinging to consciousness.

She knew he was plotting something, hoping to claw his way back again. Allowing Sephiroth to torment the planet again was not an option, so she began to plan, making sure to avoid the festering area in the Lifestream that housed his spirit.

The most prominent, repeated images she was able to glean all featured Cloud. Cloud gripping a terrifyingly long sword with both hands and shoving it further into himself. Cloud facing Sephiroth alone in the Lifestream. Even images of Cloud clutching his arm, with something that looked like a cloudy black bruise stark against his skin.

Aerith refused to allow Sephiroth to disrupt the tentative peace her friends had found in the midst of Meteor’s destruction. She was the final Cetra, and she would spend an eternity holding Sephiroth back if it meant the safety of those she held dear.

* * *

While rushing endlessly back and forth in the Lifestream, she encountered spirits who were filled with the same oozing corruption that radiated from Sephiroth’s spirit. She healed these spirits by reminding them of precious times passed, bringing those to the forefront of their consciousness to chase away the hatred.

When the volume of the infected steadily increased, Aerith found that the kindred spirits she had encountered in the Lifestream wanted to help. As time passed and her war of wills between Sephiroth slowly escalated, she gained a small army of spirits ready to hold the hatred polluting the planet at bay.

Her most stalwart knight by far was Zack, who rarely strayed from her side as she passed her memories from spirit to spirit. They couldn’t speak, but she could feel his resolute determination and knew he could be counted on to fight until the end as well.

* * *

Her efforts in the Lifestream and her friend’s efforts fighting off Sephiroth’s entities on Edge yielded a victory in their favor, as well as what she believed would be a lasting peace.

The corruption bled out of the Lifestream, leaving only crystalline green currents once more. As the planet healed itself again, there was a stillness in her soul she’d never felt before; however, she knew what it meant. It was finally time to pass from the Lifestream and become one with the planet, nurturing the life it supported as it had once nurtured her.

Zack’s spirit brushed against hers, and she knew he was ready too. She could sense the same feelings of contentment and peace radiating from his spirit as well.

As she felt her spirit slowly fading away and becoming a part of something greater, his warm spirit pressed against hers, her stalwart knight to the very end.

* * *

In the darkness, she felt something. A faint tug against the small slivers that made up what was once Aerith Gainsborough.

At first, she ignored it. She was no longer that person, no longer an entity separate from the planet. She had no responsibilities, and could not be called back to fight again.

The pull steadily became stronger, though, insistently calling her to serve some higher purpose she could only guess at.

Reluctantly unfurling her sluggish limbs, she drifted toward her unrelenting destiny, reaching out her hand to grasp it. When something grasped her hand in return, she was immediately hit with a familiar feeling, like putting on a well-loved glove.

Images and thoughts and plans of what had already come to pass and what was soon to come again assaulted her consciousness. She felt the pieces of her mind and body slowly knit themselves back together, and as that same hand pulled her up into a blindingly bright light, she felt a gentle, reassuring squeeze and was able to pick out one final whisper.

“Follow them. The yellow flowers.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading any and all feedback is appreciated :')


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